Posts Tagged ‘travel’

Many families, time and money willing, plan a summer getaway to, well, anywhere else. Whether you’re going to Paris, France or Paris, Texas, if you’re taking the kids with you, you’re going to have to figure out how to keep them entertained. For some destinations, that can be as simple as heading for the hotel pool to splash the hours away or letting them loose to roam the campsite creating their own adventures.

If hanging out at the hotel all day doesn’t tickle your fancy and you’re not headed for the great outdoors, then you’re going to need to come up with some activities and destinations that will keep them interested and engaged. The idea is to prevent the constant wailing and whining of “I’m bored”. So what’s the best way to figure out what your kids will want to see and do? I say ask ’em!

Just about the number one job of any parent is to keep our kids safe. We teach them not to take candy from strangers, we tell them to stay away from drugs and cigarettes, and we make sure they wear a helmet when riding a bicycle and a seat belt when riding in the car.

But we can’t be with them every moment of every day — sometimes we just have to let go and trust in what we’ve taught them and in the competence and responsibility of those to whom we entrust them. Whether they’re in the watchful care of a teacher, a fellow parent, or a family member, we have to believe that that person will work as hard as you do to keep them safe — or at least as hard as they do for their own kids. But what if that’s not enough?

By now, I’m sure just about everyone has heard about the three-year-old that was “hand-searched” by TSA agents after she got upset about having her teddy bear taken away. It turned out that the girl’s father was a TV reporter; he pulled out his cellphone and recorded the search. (The video has since been removed from YouTube due to copyright infringement.)

As you might expect, the opinions on this are all over the place, ranging from “this is sexual molestation of children!” to “if we don’t search children, the terrorists will put bombs in their diapers!” I think reality is somewhere in the middle — I suspect the parents could have done better job of preparing their child for the process but I also think the TSA is probably ill-prepared and poorly-trained to handle such situations.